Sunday, January 8, 2017

I’ve been in love with black and white images since I first
saw one and long before I had ever heard the name “Ansel Adams”.The majority of the film I shot was black
and white; I still remember the thrill of working in a darkroom watching as the
image appeared on the paper.Then came
digital.All digital is captured in
color and while the early stages of black and white conversion was good I felt
it never match true black and white film.I’ve used Photoshop since the 2nd version and slowly went away from
black and white.A friend of mine
introduced me to Nik Software Silver Efex Pro and I began once again
experimenting with black and white conversion.

All this of course was with 35mm cameras and once I bought
my first medium format camera (Phase One P30+ digital back) I was then
introduced to Capture One. The downside to Capture One in 2005 was that it
didn’t support running on a 64-bit computer which I had at the time.Any real work in Capture One didn’t begin
until several years later when Capture One (owned by Phase One) began
supporting 64-bit computers.

I’m now on my sixth Phase One digital back and felt it time
to get better acquainted with Capture One.The 10th version of Capture One (C1) was released late
2016.I waited until after the first of
the year to upgrade as I wanted to make certain most if not all the bugs had
been worked out as well as being a tax decision.C1-10 has better engines supporting
100-megapixels digital backs as well more support for other camera
manufactures; and it runs faster.

So how does all this tie into black and white conversion? My first step in getting better acquainted was
to visit the Phase One web site and watching videos addressing
C1.These videos gave me the idea that
there just might be a better way to convert to black and white than the way I
had been doing it.My normal workflow was to go to the top of the screen to Adjustments
pulling down Styles, opening Built in Styles and using either BW or Landscape
BW1 or BW2.

If you are still with me I’d like to walk you through the
steps I’ve been using in C1. I use a dual monitor setup with the tools and thumbnails on
the left and the preview on the right.It goes without saying that both monitors are calibrated on a regular
basis.

The workflow is time consuming however the end result is
well worth it as you are in complete control of the process similar to a
wet darkroom.

Several things are happening here.The ICC Profile has been set, and a clone of
the file made.Black and white box
checked and the various levels of Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue and Magenta set
watching the image as you adjust them.Finally, Color Balance using Shadow, Midtones and Highlight are adjusted
using your preference.

The next screen shows changes in exposure, levels, curve, clarity and vignetting.Each
section is tested to see the change in the image and if satisfactory are kept
or returned to a neutral setting.

The original file prior to conversion.

The
finished image

While the above is a simplified view of a medium format
image what follows is a sample of a Sony A7rII using an image taken in Bryce
Canyon, November 2015.

The last screen shot shows the use local adjustments in one
case bringing up shadows and the other helping in highlights.

After

Here are more examples of the conversion using the above
workflow…

Old plastic factory

Sony A7rII

Bryce Canyon

28mm lens and an IQ180 digital back

Old Utah Cabin

28mm lens and an IQ180 digital back

Devil's Garden Arches National Park

100-megapixel IQ1-100

The workflow I’ve outlined works for me as I find it
better than a “one size fits all” solution found in either the Styles section
of C1 or anything I’ve tried using Photoshop, Nik Silver Efex Pro or
Topaz Labs.While each file should be
worked separately I have found that I can apply the same setting to another
file that was shot the same day using the same exact settings thus making it
slightly faster.

This barely skims the surface of what C1 can do and I
highly recommend visiting Phase
One to learn more about Capture One.Please remember to use the AMBDON code at checkout to receive a 10%
discount on either the full program (good for 3-computers) or an upgrade from a
previous version.

Thank you once again for visiting and I hope you return
throughout the coming year.Please feel
to comment or ask questions.

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